...Back in the Day

I was chatting with one of my friends recently. We had a nice time talking about "The Good Old Days", I didn't think we were old enough to do that yet, but I guess we are.

I skimmed through some of our old photos from high school, fun times. Oh  my how life has changed for me in the last 4 years. Married, Divorced, Baby, Remarried, Baby!!! Crazy! But life is amazing, and I could not be happier. It is fun to take a peek into the past from time to time. 

High School Graduation

Senior Frogs in Honolulu, Hawaii

Bon Fires in Oviedo are some of my favorite memories (me in pink)

ROTC Field Trip in Boca Raton, FL. 

Some of the girls I worked with for several years.

With my dad before Prom. 

My friend Holli, MCBH 2009

Induction to French Honors Society *Principal Lundquist and Madame Bierkan*

First day as a Freshman

diving team

Sensei Michelle and I working at the kids black-belt graduation

Paquettas Birthday, MCBH 2009

Me with my fellow commanding FEMALE officers and our ROTC Col.

The MOST influential man in the world, amazing, truly amazing. We love you.

Wow, it has been quite a while since I have updated.

Our house is a crazy place lately, hardly a quiet moment, but it sure is interesting.

Two weeks ago we were lucky enough to be invited to our friends Vlad and Stephanie’s house to celebrate 

Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) with them. It was a good time; we visited with them as well as our friends Pyiush and Ritchu, who are expecting twin girls in December. I was happy to not be the pregnant one, for once, as she was limited in the eating and drinking part of the celebration!

Andrew and I have been on a virtual house hunt, mostly so when and if we move any time soon we are on the same page as far as what we like and don’t like in a home. It is amazing how many bedrooms we will need, crazy kids.

The kids are doing great. Drew is always smiling and cooing, we love it! Evey is in a fun stage of slapping and growling, but she is learning, and regressing, and then learning again. Sometimes it is nice to have a degree in Child Development, other times I feel like a living text book and the more knowledge I have the more conflicting it becomes. Raising children is surely not a science, more of an art form left open for interpretation, which would explain the lack of handbook  on the subject *ha ha*!

I am sorry; I will apologize midway if this post is completely unorganized, grammatically incorrect, and flat out doesn’t make any sense. I have only had one cup of coffee today, most days it takes at least 2 to keep everything together.

I am supposed to be doing school work right now, figures. The computer is such a distracting place, one of the reasons we did away with Facebook. I really have no excuse for not doing my work right now other than pure procrastination. Drew slept a fabulous 8 hours straight last night, it was awesome even if I did wake up to a huge explosive poopy diaper.

The kids eat so well lately, obviously Drew has no major issue; his biggest choice is left or right. Evey loves her organic grilled chicken nuggets for lunch, mostly because she gets to practice her awesome fork skills. She really is pretty good at hand eye coordination, I even let her use a big girl cup, that lasted a while until she dumped it on herself and then laughed. Fun.

I will post some random pictures we have taken over the last few weeks. Please excuse the mess that may be lingering in the background. I clean everyday…and every night, and then Evey runs through like a tornado, Yet I still keep cleaning. 

Andrew caught me singing to Drew, He was a bit gassy.

This is how Evey helps me organize. 

She has a thing for Dog Beds

oh, this boy!

She is so in love with Uncle V

Aunt Stephanie loves these babies!

(sorry its sideways) I cannot believe we have already passed 2 months.

She likes to sleep in like Daddy.

She may look like Andrew, but that crazy personality, yeah...that is all me! 

I'm Back!

Ok, Most people that read this probably already know that we had our baby Drew.

I will write about that later.

Lets get onto other things, as of this week, Andrew and I have started our "Diet". The 17 day diet. I would say mine is more, healthier eating, because of breast feeding I cannot cut that many calories.

The day I gave birth I weighed a ridiculous 135 pounds *I only weighed 120 when Evey was born*. As of today I am 118, and baby boy is 3 weeks old. My hopes are to drop those nice extra 18 pounds, the last time we did this diet I got down to my NORMAL weight *normal for me...Pre-Andrew lol* 95 pounds. Healthy, Happy, no Flabby!

So, It all began today. Fun.

Weighing in at 118 this morning. I sucked down my 4 bottles of water, my 3 servings of green tea, and my single cup of black coffee.

Greek Yogurt with berries for breakfast.

Apple for a snack.

3 Scrambled eggs mixed with a little bit of fat free cheese and spinach for lunch.

Greek Yogurt for a snack.

Bell pepper for a snack.

Dinner, we cheated, pork chop with a side salad filled with veggies *celery, peppers, and carrots*

Carrots for a snack.

...Now I am hungry. Running out of snack ideas. Yikes. Water, Water, and um maybe some more Water!


I will weigh my self in the morning. When I am not feeling so STRETCHED out I may even dare to post a few pictures. yikes.

Until Day 2...

Tomorrow is the Day!!!

Tomorrow is the day.

We are having our baby boy tomorrow.

At 7am, bright and early in the morning, we will start the induction process at the hospital. I will be checked for dilation, hooked up to an IV, and then the Pitocin will be added. The Pitocin will make my contractions come every 2 minutes in hopes to keep them regulated and to proceed with dilation!

This is a crazy week for us, we are so anxious and excited to meet our son.

We are taking the time to slow things down and focus on our life and our happy little family. No extra stress needed, as we know that we will be over our heads in diapers, sleepless nights, and feedings. Between Evey and Little Andrew the house is surely to be a chaotic but a love filled place.

Pictures will be shared as soon as we can, I am sure Andrew will keep everyone up to speed while the laboring process is occurring. I do not think we will be encouraging visitors to come to the hospital, as last time it was fairly horrific having people coming in during that time. Once we are home and settled then we will be welcoming people over, but not until then. (Except sweet baby girl, she had better be brought to the hospital ASAP, I cannot fathom not having her around)

Luckily this time we are not first time parents, we have a better handle on this entire baby thing, I think!!!

Evey will have a lot of adjusting to do, but with her love for “baaabies” I am sure she will be just fine and we will do our best to make it a smooth transition for her and to show her all of the love and attention that we possibly can.

Right now the biggest challenge for me will be spending the night without Evey, I have never once been away from her for more than a few hours and certainly never overnight. Then, we must make the decision whether Andrew will be staying in the hospital with us or to come back home to get some rest and be with Evey. Last time I was not even able to move out of bed without assistance because of my tailbone being broken so Andrew had to be there to take care of Evey. Hopefully this time that will not be an issue and he will be able to come home and get as much sleep as he can until we bring the little peanut home.

The Doctor believes that Little Andrew will be on the smaller side, about 6 pounds. Considering she thought that Evey would be even smaller…I think he is going to be about 7 pounds, just like his big sister. We will see!!!

With all of my love, and last tiny bit of patience.- Jamie

Pictures

"Dada? Dada?"- She thinks every noise outside is Andrew getting home.

Every one wakes up demanding pearls...

My little builder

ya...she found the water bucket 

14 Months

On the 11th little miss turned 14 months old, she thought no one noticed. I cannot believe she is getting so old!!!

She has all but about 2 of her teeth already, she walks, talks, runs, bounces, climbs, swings, sings, and kisses.

Oh, and she eats :)

This girl can put away food like a garbage disposal, I think she gets it from her Mama. Or, Hippo as she now refers to me as.

We have been busy lately, visiting with friends, prepping for baby brother and just living life.

Andy (grandpa father in law whatever you want to call him) will be here this weekend *excuse me, why is there no Joan...still looking for a substantial answer*!!! We are going to celebrate Fathers day weekend and hopefully have a very enjoyable weekend. A small BBQ is planned for Saturday so Andrew can make his brisket...oh for the love of brisket that I am so sick of hearing about (love you honey).

More updates on Evey later, I need to relax, stressful day.

Baby Blues

Being a Mother

I start off with this wonderful quote today because I truly believe in it.

I am a mother, before my daughter was even born, I was her mother.

It honestly takes a lot to be a "good" mother. You have to be the most selfless, loving, caring, responsible, sleep deprived person that you could ever be. Sometimes I think there should be some kind of intense training on how to be a mother, because it seems that its not always natural for everyone, which is O.K. we are all human, right?

To me, It is the best thing in the world (doughnuts and puppies are close rivals, Just Kidding of course).

I am always, always, always thinking about my children. ALWAYS. I dream about them, I worry about them, I just cannot take them off of my mind.

As a mother I find it incredibly important to be a positive role model to my littles. I have high hopes of teaching my children how to have healthy relationships, how to respect others, give them advice when they need and want it, spend time with them every day just soaking them in, and showering them with love always.

Right now in this point in my daughter and sons lives, I make the calls, I am responsible for their life,health,and happiness...and I take that seriously. I protect them from the things that could take away from their innocence (unhealthy people, scary animals, crazies, toxins, you know...the norm). Andrew and I want positive and healthy influences for our children, later on in life they will have no choice but to face undesirable people and situations, but for now while they are my babies, they will be shielded.

Being a mama means making a lot of choices, I feel and believe that I make the best choices for my children. One day I do not get to make choices for my children, but I will help them make the best choices to stay on their feet, keep their heads high, and keep them positive and loving life. Too many children fall into the arms of parents that don't push, that don't open their minds and lift them up...that is so sad to me. Your parents should ALWAYS want better for you, and do what they can to HELP you achieve that.

Just a bunch of NUTS!

Moving on to other things, like FATHERS! Yay for it almost being fathers day. My hunny makes an excellent father. I have never seen someones face light up so much from being around their baby. Sometimes I have to catch myself before I start tearing up while watching them play and laugh together. He is amazing, My children have an amazing father, so lucky!

I will have to find some fun quotes and stories of Daddy's. It is such an important role in a child's life and should not be taken lightly. Evey loves her Dada, more than her toes I think. :)

Learning.

Since Andrew and I got the new camera we have been having fun taking a lot of photos of Evey, however we are in much need of a crash course on how to WORK the high tech piece of equipment.

I have been playing with the more than awesome "Selective Color" feature, wow is it cool! It is a lot easier than what I thought it would be. Thanks to YouTube I just looked up a simple directional video and BAM now I've got it.

Hopefully soon my "Nikon For Dummies" book will arrive so we can get down to the nitty gritty and be prepared for when little Andrew arrives, which to be honest...could be any day now, although I would prefer he stay baking until at least after July 1st.

We are getting so excited, I love Andrews reaction to the little one kicking him from inside of me, its like they are talking to each other. ( seriously though, its cute) I'm not crazy. I think Evey somehow realizes that something is going to change, she sees all of the "baby" stuff rolling in through the door thanks to a few lovely people that have helped us out a lot. They are only babies once and we are having fun spoiling them!

Thank goodness I went over my checklist, It seems that we have most of what we need for the next little one. I had a few moments of freaking out about that last week...all better now!

Now all we need is a bundle of baby boy!!!

Is this cool or what? I did this all on the camera itself. AWESOME!

Today.

My favorite quote of the day is one I've had on my mind a lot lately, it just seems to fit so well with things happening around me. I wish people would more often examin their own behaviors... "your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behavior does." I'm loving it.

Park Pictures

As I promised, More pictures of Evey at the park. 

She really did love it, especially playing in the dirt. So much like her Mama.

She Made me Melt

Evey melted my heart last night.

I know for sure that she will be such an amazing big sister. She loves "Babies".

Our friends Carli and Joe brought over their 5 month old son, Brahe, for dinner last night.

Miss Evey was so cute with him, she gave him kisses and tried to share her animal crackers with him. It was so sweet.

He laughed and drooled at her, and then eventually he tried to eat her toes and her dress. Stinkin cute!

Saying "Hello" to each other.

Finally, someone else grabs toes instead of Evey.

She just sat there and let him gnaw on her dress, loved it.

We Went to The Park

Just a sneak peek.

I will post a lot more pictures of our week later.

I hope everyone has a good weekend, we have a bit planned over the next few days. Hopefully we will get some great photos to share with everyone.

P.S. Evey loves the park, even if it feels like we could boil.

Until Later.

Another Semester Down

Yes! Another term closer to finishing my degree.

I was happy to check my grades today and find that I got a 95% on my Final Exam in my Childhood Activities class, and a 100% on my Final Exam in my Children with Special Needs class. Pleased. I am rather pleased to be done with those two professors though, one was really boring and one was too busy griping about people that never did their work during class that she failed to make it through most of her lessons...great.

On to other things.

Tired. That is all I feel lately. When you have to get up to pee every 10 minutes at night because you have a baby jumping on your bladder, it makes it really hard to get a good nights sleep. Not that I will get much sleep when little Andrew is born anyways.

This week I will be 33 weeks pregnant, Yikes. That means in just 4 weeks, I will be full term and can expect the wee man to show up anytime after that. OH MY GOODNESS. I am anxious, excited, scared, but really I just want to hold our baby!

I am slowly realizing that everything we have is pink and purple...In much need of some green and brown things. The poor boy will be nursed under a purple cover on a pink butterfly covered Boppy. Sorry munchkin.

This past weekend:

I have pictures from this past weekend but am too lazy to find the cord to load them right now. Ill work on that later. I am patiently waiting for my "Push Gift" to arrive today. Andrew, my darling, my love, my sweet sweet husband bought me a Nikon D5100 *so excited* so I can play paparazzi to our children and him. (my mom chipped in as well as an early birthday gift) Those things cost more than Id ever like to admit spending. Truly, as wise investment for us though, now I will just have to learn how to use it...oy.

Waiting for Evey to wake up from her nap. I will update later on today or tomorrow about our weekend and what we have to come here in the next few weeks. Life is busy, although I am not sure what we are busy doing :)

Our Day in Pictures

Weight, Wait, Weight!

Weight and Waiting.

I am waiting to pop this baby out, as the weight piles on.

Ok, so I have gained a fairly modest amount, but when you are only 5'2...Those pounds look like they are multiplied by 3!

Saturday evening Andrew had a nice laugh at me as I lay on the floor on my back throwing what he calls my "Toddler Tantrums"...which by the way has only occurred twice *both while pregnant*. It truly SUCKS when none of your clothes fit, or rather they don't fit "right". I am not a body perfection freak, but going from being fairly athletic and in-shape to having 2 kids in 2 years and seeing the crazy differences...Its mind blowing.

I know I sound like a bag of "waah wahh", give me a break I am 21, when I am 25 maybe then Ill consider letting myself go (just kidding).

I have convinced Andrew that once this baby is born we are going back on the 17 day diet, obviously I will be making a few adjustments since the plan is to breastfeed and that takes about 2-300 extra calories *but burns almost 800 woo hoo*. Most likely I will just add dressing to my salads and possibly eat an entire egg, instead of just egg whites.

...Looking forward to the next 8 weeks of not dieting, but watching what I eat. Oh joy. If I am cranky, I apologize in advanced.

That is all for now!

Its Saturday, woo hoo!

This week felt a bit busy. We had doctors appointments, errands to run, friends to see.

Evey was all over the house this week because we had a few days of yucky weather. Not to mention I am also not sleeping lately, and I happen to be exhausted.

We went and enjoyed dinner with the newlyweds this week, I think Kirsten is getting into the housewife role and testing out all of her new dishes on us, I am 100% ok with that!
Evey enjoyed her chicken tortilla soup, it was yummy.

Evey had steak, pork, chicken, scrambled eggs, and rice this week...she loved all of it. Still cant get her to eat a darn banana. Figures.

I had my monthly check up with the OB/GYN on Thursday. My appointments will now be every other week because I am already at 31 weeks. It is hard to believe that in about 7 or 8 weeks we will have another baby to  bring home.

I do believe that my "nesting" is in full force, a simple dish left on the counter is giving me anxiety, which is not good because our daughter is a walking..running...tornado these days.

We are in the final count down, I am so excited but I think we are scared $hitless, although Andrew doesn't let onto that.

Here comes the no sleeping again, which means grouchy Jamie. Watch out!

Oh. I almost forgot to mention that we switched out Eveys Glowy for a pink one this week. I was so afraid that she wouldnt take it because she is so attached to her blue one...but she LOVES it. Cannot get her to put it down and I am relieved!

Enjoying a Simple Monday

After a weekend of fun, Monday was pretty quiet, but much needed.

We had a wedding this weekend in Galveston, Kirsten and Justin finally decided to officially tie the knot. Could not be happier for them! They are a great couple, although very different from us "Ulsher's" they are so pleasant to be around...and they ADORE our sweet baby girl. Evey LOVES her Uncle Justin!

They had a small gathering in Galveston, of maybe 20 or so, we were lucky to make the cut of "close friends and family." Was a short and sweet ceremony down in the sand, and then a BBQ style buffet for a reception. The day went by hard and fast, but they looked so incredibly happy and in love. Congrats!

Evey did not care for the beach, I do not blame her. The water smelt of fish and muck, and the sand left much to be desired. We dipped her toes in the water just to see if she would like it...Not so much!

We headed home the same evening, originally we had planned to stay, but with only a less than 2 hour drive it didn't seem worth it to board the dog and deal with hotel crap.

Then came Sunday, Mother's Day. Number 2 for me! We spent much of the day relaxing, thankfully. Had plans to go out for sushi, our tradition for special days, but were too much of bums and ordered a pizza in at my request.

Darling husband gave me happy mothers day wishes and not to mention the 3 cards *technically one from Boo, one from Evey, and one from him* A nice size Snickers bar, that Evey attempted to throw in my soaking tub, and 3, yes 3 trays of my favorite cupcakes. Thanks Honey. Did I mention that he even ran to the store for milk? Good Husband.


Weekends like this, filled with weddings and appreciation make me reflect on life. My happy life, with bumpy moments. It makes me think about what makes me happy, my family, health, and myself...why myself? I make myself happy, yes, ooo ahh, she said it. I know that the REASON I am happy each day is because I give myself a happy life. The choices you make for YOURSELF for YOUR LIFE are what make you happy. Things don't HAPPEN to you, you happen TO LIFE. Each decision you make, makes your life. I've been to Hell and BACK. Never once did I blame someone else for my struggles, I divorced, why, because I MARRIED an idiot.I got remarried because I LOVE a wonderful man. I've had many other trials, and happy days like weddings and mothers day remind me that...you get to those happy days because you wisely deal with the crappy days. It always feels good to reflect.

Remembering

2 wonderful years ago, my darling husband and I began "dating". Sure, we do not know what else to call it, I was pretty much moved in since day 1. It just worked out that way. 2 years later, and 2 babies...Life is good.

I do not think we could ask for more. We are happily married, beautiful children, wonderful mutt, some great family members, we are truly "living the life".

Bring on the next 2 years please...and many more after.

Our SECOND date. He was showing off, bought awesome seats at the symphony and took me out for a nice dinner. :)